In a way I agree with Impulsy. What most people do, involves plenty of trading. Many guys take anything what appears good. I'm assuming everybody sells at loss, if you start to think how much work hours this passion is being invested. These would be default standards of "noise activity", that one doesn't even need to remind about.
However, I'm not talking about passionate artists who exists even if it would be matter of creating 1 master tape of recording which wasn't meant for sale. Or collector who hunts what he likes, regardless of how much effort it requires.
What I have understood from original tape culture and even its usage within industrial scene, was that it was most of all affordable. Without doubt, it therefore includes economic decision of some sort. Like it or not.
It was meant as affordable alternative compared to publishing records. It was meant to reach people who couldn't afford records. It was method of having outlet for stuff that couldn't find even couple hundred people to be interested. But there was still passion to create as well as communicate. One way was to build network. The networks of labels, bands, distributors and people. I still believe, physical format and existence of actual items and network creates other kind of things than lets say, clicking youtube links or discogs buttons.
One can conclude now that due internet, you will find the source you and you just paypal him, so where do you need this "network". And everything is online anyways, so why even bother? I simply disagree and therefore observe the possibilities of such network to exists.
In case of distributor, one may ask what is the passion he should display? I'd rather see people display passion not on their single and directed fetishes for collectibles. Why? That's something what you expect from anyone by default. I'd rather see distributor have passion to build something bigger than him. For example support new name what nobody (yet) knows or cares. It still requires some sort of possibility to break even. That is my assumption. I mean, guy who I don't know, music what I have not heard, lets throw 50 euros to drain just for fun. That is exactly the what I mentioned about yuppification of noise.
Self-absorbed young professionals, earning good pay, enjoying the cultural attractions of sophisticated urban life and thought, and generally out of touch with, indeed antithetical to, most of the challenges and concerns of a far less fortuned.
"oh, so you didn't throw 25,- +shipping for new japanese C-20, all you think is money, not passion"... pfff...
Elitism in counterculture based on nothing but disposable money is pretty faggy, if you ask me. I'm not talking about some bullshit egalitarian principle, but somewhere between here lies questions is there any way tape to serve it's old passion-enabling function as means of distribution in 2016? I think that barely. I'm not at all concerned about rich kids and passionate hoarders. I rather approach it from perspective what originally tape publishing had (unless I'm totally mistaken): reaching some new people. Getting material heard. Having passion to put out stuff nobody (yet) gives a fuck, but could be exposed. It still works, if all is done as well as you could, but doesn't look that bright....
